The internet is up in arms over mom’s ‘sad beige’ toy tree makeover

It’s not often the internet agrees about, well, anything. But one mom managed to unite literally everyone in the comments section of a viral TikTok video she posted, where she gave a “DIY makeover” to her toddler’s Step 2 My First Christmas Tree toy—”sad beige mom” style.

If you’re not aware of the sad beige trend, it’s the idea that earth tones and neutrals are king over everything else to create a clean, minimalist aesthetic—i.e., beige everything—and sometimes that extends to kids’ toys and nurseries and clothing. But the aesthetic has been dying out in some circles over the past year, and the internet watched in horror as this mom took a colorful toy Christmas tree and spray painted it with muted, neutral colors so it would fit into the color palette of her home, which is, quite literally, 50 shades of beige.

@nattiejopo Let’s give my toddler’s Step 2 my first christmas tree a DIY makeover 🎄👏🏼🤍 What do you think?? #DIY #step2christmas #myfirstchristmastree #diyproject #toddlerchristmastree #step2toys #toddlermom #diymom #toddlerchristmas #momsoftiktok ♬ Christmas Is Coming – DM Production

“Go ahead and call me crazy or a sad beige mom for what I’m about to do,” she says in the video, which has racked up hundreds of thousands of views and nearly 15,000 comments. “I’m leaning into my inner Pinterest mom with a vision to neutralize the tree and I can already hear you thinking that I’m going to ruin my toddler’s Christmas by painting over these colors. But let’s be real—my toddler’s favorite toys are brown cardboard boxes and clear plastic water bottles.”

As the video goes on, we see her spray paint the different pieces of the toy tree—the tree itself is transformed from bright green to a deeper forest green. The star is spray painted metallic bronze instead of bright yellow. And the stand is transformed from an orange-ish terra cotta to cream colored.

But when she gets to the ornaments, things take a turn. They started out as festive multicolored balls—classic Christmas. But after she painted them all various shades of brown, the comment section came for her.

“Yes! Gorgeous! Stunt your child’s development by turning anything colourful into a sad beige!!!” one commenter wrote.

Another added, “Not sad beige moms just selfish moms.”

Yet another weighed in, “Color is so important for child development, what you want shouldn’t matter. Stop being sad beige moms.”

And another: “if the baubles had some colour this would be cute but the beige baubles are so sad.”

But moms are allowed to want nice things, too. And that can extend to a minimalist toy tree for her toddler. Sure, a little color on Christmas is never a bad thing, but this mom is leaning into what she likes—and if that brings her joy during a season when the mental load of motherhood is at an all-time high, well, all the merrier.